Snap off telescope mount

ABSTRACT

A mount for securing a telescope sight to a firearm, which mount is snapped on and off of the firearm without the need of special tools. The mount includes a base portion which is secured to the firearm, and a ring portion which is secured to the scope. A tongue and groove connection positions the ring portion longitudinally with respect to the base portion and prevents longitudinal movement from occuring between the scope and the firearm such as would be initiated by recoil when the firearm is fired. A spring clamp is arranged to position the ring portion laterally with respect to the base portion to resist lateral movement of the scope.

Unite tates ate t [72] Inventor Joseph A. l-leinzel El Paso, Tex.

[2]] Appl. No. 855,131

[22] Filed Sept. 4, 1969 [45] Patented May 25, 1971 [73] Assignee Olin Corporation [54] SNAP OFF TELESCOPE MOUNT 2,585,985 2/1952 Anderson Primary Examiner-Leonard Forman Assistant ExaminerPaul G. Foldes ABSTRACT: A mount for securing a telescope sight to a firearm, which mount is snapped on and off of the firearm without the need of special tools. The mount includes a base portion which is secured to the firearm, and a ring portion which is secured to the scope. A tongue and groove connection positions the ring portion longitudinally with respect to the base portion and prevents longitudinal movement from 00- curing between the scope and the firearm such as would be initiated by recoil when the firearm is fired. A spring clamp is arranged to position the ring portion laterally with respect to the base portion to resist lateral movement of the scope.

PAT ENTEB HAYZS mm 3; 579 40 SHEEIIOFZ INVENTOR JOSEPH A. HE/NZEL BY UM ATTORNEY PATENTEDMAQSIHH 3,579,840

SHEET 2 UF 2 INVENTOR JOSEPH A. HE/NZEL BY WM Ml?- ATTORNEY SNAP OFF TELESCOPE MOUNT This invention relates to a mount for securing a telescopic sight to a firearm which mount can be snapped onto and oh of the firearm manually without requiring any tools, and without the necessity of loosening any mounting screws or the like.

The use of mounts to secure a telescopic sight (a scope) to a firearm is, of course, wide spread and old in the art. The mounts must be such that the scope is held rigidly in place during firing so that the aiming point of the scope is not affected by handling of the firearm, recoil, or other jostling which may be inflicted on the scope. Conventional scope mounts generally consist of two basic elements, a base which is secured to the firearm, and one or more rings which are secured to the body of the scope. The various bases and rings which may be of a more or less complex structure in different mounts of the prior art, but both components are generally present in one form or another. The prior art mounts disclose a variety of structures utilized to secure the rings, and thereby the scope, to the base. Screws may be passed through apertures in the rings and threaded into aligned apertures on the base. Clamps are commonly used to attach the rings to the base, the clamps being loosened and tightened by means of one or more threaded bolts. Whatever type mount, one essential feature thereof, as noted above, is that the scope must be rigidly secured to the firearm and not displaced from its sighting position by ordinary jarring and jostling.

While the mounts must firmly secure the scope to the fireann, it is also desirable that the scope be easily and quickly detachable from the firearm for cleaning, storage, or should the shooter desire to use iron sights commonly obscured by the scope. The use of screws or bolt clamps to secure the rings to the base may require the shooter to use a tool, such as a screwdriver to detach the scope from the firearm thereby inconveniently requiring that the shooter carry a screwdriver or the like about with him. Removing the scope from a firearm with mounts having screws or bolt clamps always is rather time consuming, and can result in a hunter loosing a shot at game which shot would best be made with the iron sights.

The mount of this invention is designed so that the rings and scope can be snapped onto and off of the base without screwing or unscrewing any bolts or the like. The rings are secured to the base by simply pressing the rings down against the base, and separation of the rings and base is accomplished by simply lifting the scope and rings away from the base. This simplified attachment and detachment is accomplished by providing a spring clamp on the rings which engages the base, the spring clamp being opened and closed by upwardly and/or downwardly directed pressure exerted by the shooter on the scope. The clamp opens and closes in a direction which is normal to the axis of the firearm and scope so that recoil forces imparted to the scope will not tend to open the clamp. Mating tongue and groove configurations are formed on the adjacent surfaces ofthe base and rings, the tongue and groove combination providing opposing face-to-face shoulders which are perpendicular to the axis of the firearm and scope, and which locate and retain the rings in position with respect to the base. In particular, the shoulders prevent movement of the scope in the direction of the axis of the firearm, e.g. the direction along which recoil forces are directed. Thus a solid connection is established between the scope and firearm in the axial direction of the two, e.g. the direction along which comparatively large recoil forces are directed, and a resilient connected is established between the scope and the firearm in a direction normal to the axes of the firearm and scope, e. g. the direction along which only relatively minor forces stemming from normal handling, jostling, and the like, occur.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a mount for securing a telescopic sight to a firearm which permits the scope to be attached and detached from the firearm simply by pressing or lifting the scope toward or away from the firearm.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a scope mount of the character described wherein the mount includes two primary members which have freely engageable and disengageable complimentary tongue and groove configurations which establish positive axial positioning and prevent movement between the scope and firearm under impetus of recoil when the firearm is fired.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide a scope mount of the character described wherein the mount includes a flexible clamp on one of the primary members which clamp is actuated to engage the other primary member merely by pressing the two members together, and which clamp holds the tongue and groove in engaged position and resists lateral movement of the scope with respect to the firearm.

It is an additional object of this invention to provide a scope mount of the character described which is of simple construction and which may include a standard mount base modified by providing the same with a lateral groove.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description and accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the mount of this invention showing the base portion secured to a firearm (shown fragmentally and schematically), and showing the ring portions secured to a scope, the scope and ring portions being rotated through a 90 angle with respect to the base for purposes of clarity;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the mounts of FIG. 1 showing the scope attached to the firearm;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2 and showing the manner in which the resilient clamp engages the base to secure the scope against lateral movement on the base:

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3 showing the manner in which the tongue and groove configuration cooperates to position the scope longitudinally on the firearm and resist longitudinal movement of the scope with respect to the firearm; and

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view similar to FIG. 3 but showing another embodiment of the tongue and groove connection.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a preferred embodiment of the mount of this invention is shown. A firearm 2 is shown schematically and fragmentarily and a scope 4 is shown. The scope 4 is of conventional construction having a barrel 6, an ocular end 8, an objective end 10, and windage and elevation adjustments [2. A pair of similar base members 14 are secured to the firearm 2 by means of screws 16. A laterally extending groove 18 is cut into the top surface of the base 14, it being noted that the term laterally" refers to the fact that the groove 18 extends in a direction which is substantially normal to the axes of the firearm 2 and the scope 4. The axially extending sides of the base 14 are V-shaped so as to present a pair of divergent shoulders 20. It is noted that the base is of conventional configuration with the exception of the groove 18 cut therein.

A pair of ring members, indicated generally by the numeral 22 are secured to the scope barrel 6. Each ring member 22 includes an upper half 24 and a lower half 26 which are secured together by a pair of screws 28 (see FIG. 3). The lower half 26 of the ring member 4 includes a flat bottom surface 30 which overlies the top surface of the base 14. A laterally extending rib 32 depends downwardly from the bottom surface 30 and forms a tongue which is inserted into the base groove 18 in a manner more fully clarified hereinafter. The side face of the rib or tongue 32 forms a shoulder 34. An axially or longitudinally extending clamp is formed at the side margins of the bottom surface 30 as follows. A first rigid leg 36 depends downwardly from one edge of the bottom surface 30, the leg 36 having an inwardly turned oblique face 38 which is positioned for hooking engagement with one of the divergent shoulders 20 on the base 14. A resilient plate 40 is secured to the other side of the lower half 26 of the ring by means of a plurality of screws 42, the plate 40 preferably being formed of spring steel. The lower portion of the plate 40 formsa resilient leg 44 which depends downwardly from the other edge of the bottom surface 30, the resilient leg 44 having an inwardly turned oblique face 46 which is positioned for hooking engagement with the other of the divergent shoulders 20. By reason of the flexibility of the plate 40, it will be appreciated that the leg 44 can be flexed outwardly away from the respective divergent shoulder 20 and will be tensioned against the shoulder 20 to clamp the oblique surfaces 38 and 46 against the divergent shoulders 20.

The scope 4 is mounted on the firearm 2 to assume the position shown in FIG. 2 in the following manner. The scope 4 and rings 22 are cocked slightly as shown in FIG. I, and the oblique surface 38 on the clamp leg 36 is placed against the respective divergent shoulder 20 on the base 14 with tongue 32 aligned with the groove 18. The scope 4 and rings 22 are then pivoted downward to move the tongue 32 into the groove 18 and to move the resilient leg 44 against the other side of the base 14. The scope and rings are then pressed down toward the firearm so that the resilient leg 44 is forced against the V- shaped sidewall of the base 14. This action will cause the resilient leg 44 to flex outwardly as continued pressure is ap plied to the scope and rings, until the oblique surface 46 passes the vertex of the V-shaped sidewall of the base 14, at which time the resiliency of the plate 40 will cause the oblique face 46 to move against the divergent shoulder 20 and clamp the scope to the firearm.

FIG. 3 shows the operation of the clamp when the scope 4 is secured to the firearm 2. The inwardly turned surface 38 on the rigid leg 36 is in face-to-face engagement with one divergent shoulder 20 on the base 14, and the inwardly turned surface 46 on the resilient leg 44 is in face-to-face engagement with the other divergent shoulder 20. It is apparent that the bias of the stressed plate 40 will force the surface 38 and 46 against the shoulders 20 and the clamp will resist lateral and vertical movement of the scope 4 with respect to the firearm 2. The resiliency of the plate 40 is selected so that normal jostling of a predetermined magnitude will not move the mount, but the shooter can remove the scope from the firearm by firmly lifting the scope upward and to the left (as shown in FIG. 3) so as to cause the divergent shoulder 20 to defect the resilient leg 44 outwardly therefrom.

FIG. 4 shows the operation of the tongue 32 and groove 18 connection. When the tongue 32 is inserted into the groove 18 the tongue shoulder 34 is brought into face-to-face contact with a shoulder 35 formed by the sidewall of the groove 18. It is noted that the tongue and groove connection will not resist vertically directed forces, but forms a rigid barrier bracing against and resisting axial or longitudinally directed forces. Thus, the recoil forces which are generated when the firearm is fired, and which are directed longitudinally along the firearm, are resisted by the shoulders 34 and 35 so that the scope will not be longitudinally displaced when the gun is fired.

FIG. illustrates a second embodiment of the mount of this invention. The lower half 26' of the ring includes a pair of apertures 50 drilled therethrough in a vertical direction. A pin 52 is press fitted into each aperture 50, extending downwardly from the bottom surface 30' of the ring. The base 14 is provided with a pair of notches 54 which are aligned so as to receive the lower ends of the pins 52. Thus the pins 52 and notches 54 form the tongue and groove connection between the ring and base. It is noted that the notches 54 may be cut into the base 14 only a fraction of the lateral distance thereof. In this manner the tongue and groove connection will not resist vertical movement of the ring from the base, but will resist lateral movement as well as longitudinal movement therebetween. Thus the mount shown in FIG. 5 may be more desirable where rough handling of the firearm and scope are anticipated. Of course, the pins could also be used with a groove of the type shown in FIG. 1.

While the preferred embodiments have illustrated the tongue as being formed on the rings, and the groove on the base, it is anticipated that the reverse may be utilized without departing from the spirit of the invention. Furthermore, the

clamp has been illustrated as having one rigid and one flexible leg, however, two flexible legs may be employed within the spirit of the invention. It is also noted that the clamp could be positioned on the base and the divergent shoulders on the rings without departing from the spirit of this invention.

It will be readily appreciated that the mount of this invention permits a scope to be easily and quickly snapped onto and off of the firearm while, at the same time, firmly positioning the scope on the firearm and resisting recoil and handling impact forces which tend to move the scope. This mount is usable with slightly modified standard bases, is of simple construction, and is relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

Iclaim:

1. A snap off mount for securing a telescopic sight to a firearm, said mount comprising:

a. a first member for rigid attachment to the firearm;

b. a second member for rigid attachment to the telescopic sight;

c. cooperating shoulder means on each of said members,

said cooperating shoulder means being arranged for faceto-face contact to prevent longitudinal movement of said first member with respect to said second member, and said cooperating shoulder means being freely slidable with respect to each other;

d. divergent shoulder means formed on one of said members; and

e. clamping means formed on the other of said members,

said clamping means being arranged for clamping engagement with said divergent shoulder means to prevent relative movement between said cooperating shoulder means, and said clamping means having at least one biased leg for stressed engagement with one of said divergent shoulder means, said biased leg being outwardly deflectable away from said one divergent shoulder means to release said clamping means from engagement with said divergent shoulder means to permit said second member to be moved out of contact with said first member whereby the sight can be snapped onto and off of the firearm.

2. A snap off mount for securing a telescopic sight to a firearm, said mount comprising:

a. a base member for rigid attachment to the firearm;

b. a ring member for rigid attachment to the telescopic sight;

c. laterally extending tongue and groove means formed on said base member and said ring member, said tongue means being positioned within said groove means and being operative therein to prevent longitudinal movement of said ring member with respect to said base member;

(I. divergent, longitudinally extending shoulder means on one of said members, said divergent shoulder means flanking said tongue and groove means; and

. longitudinally extending clamping means on the other of said members for clamping engagement with said divergent shoulder means to prevent relative movement between said tongue means and said groove means, and said clamping means having at least one resilient leg for biased engagement with one of said divergent shoulder means, outward flexure of said resilient leg away from said divergent shoulder means being operative to release said clamping means from engagement with said divergent shoulder means to permit said ring member to be withdrawn from contact with said base member.

3. A snap off mount for securing a telescopic sight to a firearm, said mount comprising:

a. a base member for rigid attachment to the firearm;

b. a ring member for rigid attachment to the telescopic sight;

c. laterally extending disengageable locating and stop means on said base and ring members, said locating and stop means being operative, when in engagement with each other, to prevent longitudinal movement of said ring member with respect to said base member;

d. divergent, longitudinally extending shoulders formed on the sides of said base member;

e. clamping means formed on said ring member, said clamping means including a first rigid longitudinally extending leg having an inwardly turned surface arranged for book ing engagement with one of said divergent shoulders, and a second longitudinally extending resilient leg having an inwardly turned surface arranged for hooking engagement with the other of said divergent shoulders, said resilient leg being biased toward said rigid leg when said legs are in engagement with said divergent shoulders to hold said locating and stop means together and to clamp said ring member to said base member, and said resilient leg' being operative, by reason of its resiliency, to be moved away from said other divergent shoulder to release said locating and stop means and permit said ring member to be withdrawn from contact with said base member, whereby said ring member can be snapped onto and off of said base member.

4. In a snap off mount for securing a telescopic sight to a base member attached to a firearm, which base member includes a top surface having first shoulder means extending laterally of the sight axis and normal to the top surface of the base, and a pair of divergent shoulders on opposite sides of the base and parallel to the sight axis, a device comprising:

a. a ring member for firmly engaging the telescopic sight,

said ring member having a bottom surface for juxtapositioning with a top surface on the base member, second shoulder means normal to said bottom surface and arranged to face-to-face freely disengageable contact with the first shoulder on the base to position said ring member with respect to the base and prevent longitudinal movement of said ring member with respect to the firearm; and

. clamping means fon'ned on said ring member, said clamping means including at least one longitudinally extending resilient leg having an inwardly turned surface arranged for hooking engagement with one of the divergent shoulders on the base member, said resilient leg being laterally deflectable toward and away from the respective divergent shoulder to permit said clamping means to be snapped into and out of hooking engagement with the divergent shoulders on the base member.

5. The mount of claim 4, wherein said second shoulder means is defined by a rib depending downward from and laterally traversing said bottom surface of said ring member.

6; The mount of claim 4, wherein said second shoulder means is defined by at least one pin member depending downwardly from said bottom surface of said ring member.

7. A snap off mount for securing a telescopic sight to a firearm, said mount comprising:

a. a ring member for rigid attachment to the telescopic sight;

b. a base member for rigid attachment to the firearm, said base member having V-shaped side surfaces defining longitudinally extending divergent shoulder means, and said base member including groove means formed thereon;

c. dependent tongue means formed on a bottom surface of said ring member for insertion into said groove means to longitudinally brace the sight with respect to the firearm; and

d. clamping means formed on said ring member, said clamping means including a pair of longitudinally extending legs depending from side portions of said bottom surface of said ring member, said legs having inwardly turned surfaces for hooking engagement with said divergent shoulders on said base to laterally brace the sight with respect to the firearm at least one of said legs being resilient to allow its inwardly turned surface to be laterally deflected away from and toward the respective divergent shoulder whereby said ring member can be snapped onto and off of said base member.

8. The mount of claim 7, wherein said groove means laterally traverses said base member, and said tongue means is a rib laterally traversing the bottom surface of said ring member.

9. The mount of claim 7, wherein said groove means mcludes at least one notch having a transverse dimension which is less than the width of said base member, and said tongue means includes at least one pin secured to said ring member.

10. The mount of claim 7, wherein said clamping means includes one rigid leg and one flexible leg.

11. The mount of claim 7, wherein said flexible leg is a blade spring secured to said ring member.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICA'IE F CORRECTlON Patent No. 579 Dated May 25 1971 Inventor(s) Joseph A. Heinzel It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

In Column 2, line 7, the word "flexible" should be omitted and the word --resilientinserted.

In Column 3, line 4, the word "flexibility" should be omitted and the word -resiliencyinserted.

In Column 4, line 1, the word "flexible" should be omitted and the word --resilient-- inserted In Column 4, line 2, the word "flexible" should be omitted and the word --resilient-- inserted.

In Column 6, line 38, the word "flexible should be omitted and the word --resilientinserted.

In Column 6, line 39, the word "flexible" should be omitted and the word --resilient inserted.

Signed and sealed this 26th day of October 1971.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JI1. ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Attesting Officer- Acting Commissioner of Patents 

1. A snap off mount for securing a telescopic sight to a firearm, said mount comprising: a. a first member for rigid attachment to the firearm; b. a second member for rigid attachment to the telescopic sight; c. cooperating shoulder means on each of said members, said cooperating shoulder means being arranged for face-to-face contact to prevent longitudinal movement of said first member with respect to said second member, and said cooperating shoulder means being freely slidable with respect to each other; d. divergent shoulder means formed on one of said members; and e. clamping means formed on the other of said members, said clamping means being arranged for clamping engagement with said divergent shoulder means to prevent relative movement between said cooperating shoulder means, and said clamping means having at least one biased leg for stressed engagement with one of said divergent shoulder means, said biased leg being outwardly deflectable away from said one divergent shoulder means to release said clamping means from engagement with said divergent shoulder means to permit said second member to be moved out of contact with said first member whereby the sight can be snapped onto and off of the firearm.
 2. A snap off mount for securing a telescopic sight to a firearm, said mount comprising: a. a base member for rigid attachment to the firearm; b. a ring member for rigid attachment to the telescopic sight; c. laterally extending tongue and groove means formed on said base member and said ring member, said tongue means being positioned within said groove means and being operative therein to prevent longitudinal movement of said ring member with respect to said base member; d. divergent, longitudinally extending shoulder means on one of said members, said divergent shoulder means flanking said tongue and groove means; and e. longitudinally extending clamping means on the other of said members for clamping engagement with said divergent shoulder means to prevent relative movement between said tongue means and said groove means, and said clamping means having at least one resilient leg for biased engagement with one of said divergent shoulder means, outward flexure of said resilient leg away from said divergent shoulder means being operative to release said clamping means from engagement with said divergent shoulder means to permit said ring member to be withdrawn from contact with said base member.
 3. A snap off mount for securing a telescopic sight to a firearm, said mount comprising: a. a base member for rigid attachment to the firearm; b. a ring member for rigid attachment to the telescopic sight; c. laterally extending disengageable locating and stop means on said base and ring members, said locating and stop means being operative, when in engagement with each other, to prevent longitudinal movement of said ring member with respect to said base member; d. divergent, longitudinally extending shoulders formed on the sides of said base member; e. clamping means formed on said ring member, said clamping means including a first rigid longitudinally extending leg having an inwardly turned surface arranged for hooking engagement with one of said divergent shoulders, and a second longitudinally extending resilient leg having an inwardly turned surface arranged for hooking engagement with the other of said divergent shoulders, said resilient leg being biased toward said rigid leg when said legs are in engagement with said divergent shoulders to hold said locating and stop means together and to clamp said ring member to said base member, and said resilient leg being operative, by reason of its resiliency, to be moved away from said other divergent shoulder to release said locating and stop means and permit said ring member to be withdrawn from contact with said base member, whereby said ring member can be snapped onto and off of said base member.
 4. In a snap off mount for securing a telescopic sight to a base member attached to a firearm, which base member includes a top surface having first shoulder means extending laterally of the sight axis and normal to the top surface of the base, and a pair of divergent shoulders on opposite sides of the base and parallel to the sight axis, a device comprising: a. a ring member for firmly engaging the telescopic sight, said ring member having a bottom surface for juxtapositioning with a top surface on the base member, second shoulder means normal to said bottom surface and arranged to face-to-face freely disengageable contact with the first shoulder on the base to position said ring member with respect to the base and prevent longitudinal movement of said ring member with respect to the firearm; and b. clamping means formed on said ring member, said clamping means including at least one longitudinally extending resilient leg having an inwardly turned surface arranged for hooking engagement with one of the divergent shoulders on the base member, said resilient leg being laterally deflectable toward and away from the respective divergent shoulder to permit said clamping means to be snapped into and out of hooking engagement with the divergent shoulders on the base member.
 5. The mount of claim 4, wherein said second shoulder means is defined by a rib depending downward fRom and laterally traversing said bottom surface of said ring member.
 6. The mount of claim 4, wherein said second shoulder means is defined by at least one pin member depending downwardly from said bottom surface of said ring member.
 7. A snap off mount for securing a telescopic sight to a firearm, said mount comprising: a. a ring member for rigid attachment to the telescopic sight; b. a base member for rigid attachment to the firearm, said base member having V-shaped side surfaces defining longitudinally extending divergent shoulder means, and said base member including groove means formed thereon; c. dependent tongue means formed on a bottom surface of said ring member for insertion into said groove means to longitudinally brace the sight with respect to the firearm; and d. clamping means formed on said ring member, said clamping means including a pair of longitudinally extending legs depending from side portions of said bottom surface of said ring member, said legs having inwardly turned surfaces for hooking engagement with said divergent shoulders on said base to laterally brace the sight with respect to the firearm at least one of said legs being resilient to allow its inwardly turned surface to be laterally deflected away from and toward the respective divergent shoulder whereby said ring member can be snapped onto and off of said base member.
 8. The mount of claim 7, wherein said groove means laterally traverses said base member, and said tongue means is a rib laterally traversing the bottom surface of said ring member.
 9. The mount of claim 7, wherein said groove means includes at least one notch having a transverse dimension which is less than the width of said base member, and said tongue means includes at least one pin secured to said ring member.
 10. The mount of claim 7, wherein said clamping means includes one rigid leg and one flexible leg.
 11. The mount of claim 7, wherein said flexible leg is a blade spring secured to said ring member. 